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July 17, 2018, PLLR News

Bard IVC filter lodges in patient’s heart

Sherr-Una Booker, 37, was implanted with a C.R. Bard G2 IVC filter before undergoing cancer surgery. After the operation, seven of the eight struts on the filter perforated Booker’s vena cava. Two of the struts broke off, lodging into her heart and inferior vena cava. Although she underwent surgery to remove one of the metal struts, a piece of the filter remains in her inferior vena cava. This has restricted her activities of daily living and affected her quality of life.

Booker sued C.R. Bard and its subsidiary, Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc., alleging negligent failure to warn. The plaintiff asserted that the defendants had rushed the G2 IVC filter to market, promoting it as stronger and more stable than the earlier Recovery IVC filter, and kept it on the market for more than six years despite reports that it was tilting, fracturing, and migrating in some patients. Suit did not claim lost income.

The jury awarded $4 million, including $2 million in punitive damages. The jury attributed 20 percent of the plaintiff’s damages to a nonparty radiologist for the doctor’s failure to retrieve the filter before it migrated to Booker’s heart. The defense has moved for a new trial and for judgment as a matter of law.